Communications networks are used to transport a variety of signals such as voice, video, data and the like. As communications applications required greater bandwidth, communication networks switched to cables having optical fibers since they are capable of transmitting an extremely large amount of bandwidth compared with a copper conductor. Moreover, a fiber optic cable is much smaller and lighter compared with a copper cable having the same bandwidth capacity. However, optical fibers are relatively sensitive compared with copper conductors and preserving their optical performance can be challenging.
In certain applications, fiber optic cables are exposed to moisture that over time may enter the fiber optic cable. To address this moisture issue, fiber optic cables intended for these applications include one or more components for blocking the migration of water along the fiber optic cable. By way of example, conventional fiber optic cables block water migration using a filling and/or a flooding material such as gel or grease within the fiber optic cable. Filling material refers to gel or grease that is inside a tube with the optical fibers, whereas flooding material refers to gel or grease within the cable that is outside of the tube(s) that houses the optical fibers. The gel or grease works by filling the spaces (i.e., the voids) so that the water does not have a path to follow within the fiber optic cable. Additionally, the gel or grease filling material has other advantages besides water blocking, such as cushioning and coupling of the optical fibers which assists in maintaining optical performance during mechanical or environmental events affecting the fiber optic cable. Simply stated, the gel or grease filling material is multi-functional.
However, gel or grease filling materials also have disadvantages. For instance, the gel or grease is messy and may drip from an end of the fiber optic cable. Another disadvantage is that the filling material must be cleaned from the optical fibers when being prepared for an optical connection, which adds time and complexity for the craft. Moreover, cleaning the gel or grease requires the craft to carry the cleaning materials into the field for removing the gel or grease. Thus, there has been a long-felt need for fiber optic cables that eliminate the gel or grease materials while still providing all of the benefits associated therewith.
Early fiber optic cable designs eliminated the flooding material by using dry water-blocking components such as tapes or yarn outside the buffer tubes for inhibiting the migration of water along the cable. Unlike the gel or grease, the dry water-blocking components are not messy and do not leave a residue that requires cleaning. These dry water-blocking components typically include super absorbent polymers (SAPs) that absorb water and swell as a result, thereby blocking the water path for inhibiting the migration of water along the fiber optic cable. Generally speaking, the water-swellable components used a yarn or tape as a carrier for the SAP. Since the water-swellable yarns and tapes were first used outside the tubes housing the optical fibers, the other functions besides water-blocking such as coupling and optical attenuation did not need to be addressed.
Eventually, fiber optic cables used water-swellable yarns and tapes within the tubes that housed the optical fibers for replacing the gel or grease filling materials. Generally speaking, the water-swellable yarns or tapes had sufficient water-blocking capabilities, but did not provide all of the functions of the gel or grease filling materials such as cushioning and coupling. For instance, the water-swellable tape and yarns are bulky since they are relatively large compared with a typical optical fiber and/or can have a relatively rough surface. As a result, water-swellable yarns or tapes may cause problems if the optical fiber is pressed against the same. Stated another way, optical fibers pressed against the conventional water-swellable yarn may experience microbending which can cause undesirable levels of optical attenuation and/or cause other issues. Moreover, the desired level of coupling for the optical fibers with the tube may be an issue if the fiber optic cable is not a stranded design since the stranding provides coupling.
By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,592 discloses one example of conventional water swellable components used within a buffer tube having optical fibers. But, including conventional water-swellable components within the buffer tube can still cause issues with fiber optic cable performance that requires limitations on use and/or other design alterations. For instance, fiber optic cables using conventional water-swellable yarns within the buffer tube required larger buffer tubes to minimize the interaction of conventional water swellable yarns and optical fibers and/or limiting the environment where the cable is used.
Other early fiber optic cable designs used tubes assemblies that were highly-filled with SAPs as a loose powder for blocking the migration of water within the fiber optic cable. However, using a loose water-swellable powder within the fiber optic cable created problems since the SAPs powders could accumulate/migrate at positions within the fiber optic cable since it was not attached to a carrier such as a yarn or tape (i.e., SAPs powders would accumulate at the low points when wound on a reel due to gravity and/or vibration), thereby causing inconsistent water blocking within the fiber optic cable. Also, the loose water-swellable powder was free to fall out of the end of the tube. FIGS. 1 and 2 respectively depict a cross-sectional view and a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a conventional dry fiber optic assembly 10 having a plurality of optical fibers 1 along with a water-swellable powder 3 as schematically represented disposed within a tube 5. As shown, conventional dry fiber optic assembly 10 uses a relatively large quantity of water-swellable powder 3 within tube 5 for blocking the migration of water therein. To reduce the amount of water-swellable powder other fiber optic cable designs have used water-swellable powders in combination with other cable components for effective water-blocking such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,253,012.